Plays of the Year: Demarcus Ayers gives the Steelers the lead
Steel City Underground presents “Plays of the Year” featuring the tops runs, catches, hits and everything else in-between for the Steelers 2016 season.
It wasn’t the prettiest game, but the Week 17 matchup between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers turned a lot of “what if” fantasy scenarios for the latter into a reality.
With a platoon of Pittsburgh players sitting out a game that had no postseason implications, Steelers fans had an opportunity to see what it would be like if Landry Jones substituted for Ben Roethlisberger, or if Le’Veon Bell wasn’t in the starting lineup.
As such, the Steelers opponent, the Cleveland Browns, had won their first game for the entire 2016 season a week earlier and were looking to not be embarrassed by Pittsburgh’s second stringers. The game was back-and-forth, with both teams creating plays while also making mistakes.
With the game knotted at 14-all with 7:34 left in regulation time, the Steelers offense took over on their own 39-yard line following a missed field goal attempt by Browns kicker Cody Parkey. Pittsburgh marched down the field, and in a little over two minutes, put points on the board.
Subbing in for Antonio Brown, then-rookie Demarcus Ayers made the most of his opportunity by losing the Browns defense on a crossing route and then turning on the burners for his first career touchdown.
